


Two of a Pair -- COC 2018 Day 2

by kayla96k



Category: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Canon Compliant, Carry On Countdown (Simon Snow), Carry On Countdown 2018, Flashbacks, Gen, One Shot, Watford First Year
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-30
Updated: 2018-11-30
Packaged: 2019-09-02 13:51:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16788199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kayla96k/pseuds/kayla96k
Summary: Mitali Bunce has decided to open up her home to Simon Snow, the young boy whom she refuses to to dub the Chosen One as all the other magicians in the World of Mages have done. When he gets to her home however, she's brought back to another time, and another head of blonde curls...





	Two of a Pair -- COC 2018 Day 2

**Author's Note:**

> I am super late to uploading this here :( Sorry!!

Mitali watched as Penny bounced to the front door, smiling ruefully at her orange hair.

“He’s here momma, he’s here!”

It was Christmas Eve and Simon Snow was coming to stay with them, the Chosen One.

Mitali did her best not to shiver at that last thought. Instead she put on her warmest smile, trying for the moment not to get distracted by her open laptop and thesis. Mitali had promised herself that she wouldn’t think of Simon as the Chosen One, as a centuries old prophecy. She had been horrified when she’d found out from Penny that Simon had been staying at Watford for all of holiday break by himself. She couldn’t imagine hosting him for the entire time (she had enough of her own kids to worry about) but she figured that no child who celebrated Christmas deserved to do so alone.

Penny opened the door and the boy came in.

Mitali had to bring all her self control to bear in order to stop an audible gasp from coming to her lips.

The boy’s messy hair was the first thing she noticed, a mop of golden curls that went every which way. His t-shirt and hole riddled jeans were clearly his attempt at dressing up for the occasion, causing a wave of sadness in Mitali. His face was sprinkled with freckles and moles and his blue eyes blinked at her, unsure.

None of these details were what caused Mitali to gasp, however.

No, it had been all of them combined that had taken her back to another time, when she was a teenager, and to another child, one with shoulders like the steady hills of Watford and eyes as blue as the boy’s. She was immediately brought back to Lucy Salisbury.

Almost against her will, Mitali was brought back to a warm spring day with Lucy at Watford, her golden curls, as gold as the boy’s in her living room, spread out on a blanket they’d laid out on the grass. Mitali had been braiding a few strands of it, enjoying the thick weight in her hands. Being around Lucy made you feel as substantial as she was, even if only for a moment.

“So?” Lucy asked, “Did you?”

Mitali sighed, feeling blood rush to her face.

“Well, no,” she sighed, “We got so close but then I worried that his roommate would be back and how awful would that have been?”

Lucy sighed and sat up, looking Mitali directly in her eyes and grabbing her hands.

“I would have distracted him, if you’d asked,” she said, “I would have needed to keep him busy for what, twenty minutes?”

Lucy giggled at Mitali’s snort.

“Statistically speaking?” Mitali replied, “Probably even shorter.”

Lucy sighed and looked over at the pitch, her teammates were playing a game for fun.

“I still can’t believe you got close,” she said, “What if you had gotten, you know, pregnant?”

Mitali shrugged.

“We’re getting married in three months anyways, and I want babies right away. It honestly wouldn’t have made much of a difference. Besides, I’m an intellectual, I had protection.”

Lucy laughed.

“Maybe that should be my eighth year spell,” she said, “Birth control.”

Mitali frowned.

“You still haven’t finished that?” she said, accusation in her voice.

Lucy glanced at her sideways.

“Let’s not get distracted,” she said, “That is so not the point of this discussion. Did you have music?”

Mitali laughed.

“Does our second year anniversary mixtape count?”

Lucy pondered that for a moment.

“Probably not, knowing Martin,” she said.

Mitali laughed and closed her eyes, happy just to be here talking to her best friend about something so intimate.

“So you really want kids so soon?” Lucy mused.

“Yes,” Mitali said without opening her eyes, “I want it all and I want it now. I’ve done the work to make sure I can, so why not?”

She felt Lucy’s hand come up to stroke her hair and leaned in to the touch.

“Well then I’m happy for you,” she said softly.

Mitali opened her eyes briefly.

“What about you and Davey?”

“Have we…?”

Mitali snorted.

“No not that,” she said, “Are you going to get married after graduation? Have babies?”

Lucy cocked her head to the side, her eyes far away.

“I don’t know,” she said, “I’m not sure that he’s interested in me like that.”

Mitali frowned.

“Of course he is, you’ve been dating for like four years and you’re the only one who will ever put up with him.”

Lucy laughed, softer now.

“Still, I don’t know. I hardly see a baby and marriage in his plans for the revolution.”

Mitali locked gazes with her best friend, wanting to hold her there for a moment, as if she could snatch this moment up forever.

“But what about _your_ plans Lucy?”

Lucy stared back for a few moments, her mouth opening as if she were going to actually answer and then she smiled.

“My plans are to distract Martin’s roommate and get you laid before Leaver’s Ball!”

Mitali threw Lucy back on the blanket and they both melted into a puddle of laughter.

 _Nevermind my question_ Mitali had thought at the time _I have plenty of time to ask her._

Mitali was sucked back into the present, her troubled bout of nostalgia snapped away as quickly as it had come on.

Simon Snow was standing in her living room but it was like she was seeing the ghost of her best friend.

 _Or her child_ a small voice whispered in the back of her mind.

Mitali shook off the sudden burst of intuition and smiled at the boy.

This couldn’t be Lucy’s child, she had been so clearly uncomfortable with the idea of kids when she’d asked so many years ago. And if this were her child then that meant that Lucy hadn’t just run off to California after college, Simon had been discovered at a group home here. And if Lucy hadn’t run off to California….what had Davey done to her?

No, Mitali decided, Lucy had to be safe because the alternative was too horrible, too dark. This boy simply shared an unnatural resemblance.

“Hi Mrs. Bunce,” he said, and his voice sent shivers down her spine, too close to Lucy’s.

“Hello Simon,” she said, “Come on in.”

It did not to do well to dwell on nostalgia, especially if it meant disrupting everything in the present.


End file.
